This article appeared in the Dominion Post Newspaper on January 10, 2004.
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MHS bounces Brooke

Mohigans earning state respect

Jason DeProspero/The Dominion Post

Morgantown's Chris Carey drives past Brooke's Joey Gaglione.

BY JUSTIN JACKSON

The Dominion Post

It took two years of hard work, but Morgantown High forward Kameron Law said the MHS boys' basketball team is finally getting what it deserves -- respect.

For two years, the Mohigans have had to scratch and claw their way through the rankings before making two straight state semifinals appearances.

No clawing necessary this season.

"I told the guys before the season that you weren't going to sneak up on anybody this year," MHS coach Tom Yester said after the Mohigans beat Brooke, 65-49, on Friday. "Not after winning 20-plus games the last two years."

Instead, the Mohigans (7-0) began the season ranked No. 4 and since have jumped up to second in the state.

"When I first saw in the preseason that we were No. 4, it really surprised me," Law said. "I figured we would be eighth or ninth, because we hadn't got a whole lot of respect the past two seasons."

Suddenly, Yester doesn't have the "nobody respects us" motivation to use on his players. Now, he's teaching them to play with bull's-eyes firmly planted on their chests.

"I think they've done a fine job playing with the targets on themselves," Yester said. "(On Wednesday) we went into North Marion, which was very pumped up to play us and they have a fine team and they had a big crowd that night and our guys handled it very well, I thought."

The Mohigans handled it again against the Bruins (1-6), although Brooke wasn't much of a challenge.

The Mohigans took a 40-20 halftime lead after outscoring the Bruins, 20-5, in the second quarter.

The game was highlighted by dunks from Law and Benson and even a missed dunk from Law on an alley-oop pass.

"I twisted my ankle a little on the missed one," Law said. "I guess I should make them to take care of that. It's fine. A little ice should fix it."

Ben Torsney led the way with 22 points, from a mixture of outside shooting and putbacks.

"The guys started to find Ben and Ben was in the right place tonight," Yester said. "What I liked to see was how Ben was also effective with offensive rebounding. A lot of those points were sticking back the rebound and that's what we need from Ben. It was easily his best performance of the season."

It came on a night when others were cold. Law finished with 14, but sat out most of the second half with the ankle injury. Benson, who entered the game averaging 12.7 points, finished with two and Chris Carey scored nine. Carey entered the game averaging 18.5 points.

"Every team gets so hyped up to play us now," Law said. "Before, it was like, 'OK, we're playing Morgantown, let's see what happens.' Now, teams give us their best, because they want to see where they are as compared to one of the better teams in the state.

"It's a different feeling than the past couple of years, but our goal has remained the same and that's to win a state championship."

And while there is much love for the Mohigans now, Law said the goal is to stay focused so they can prove they deserve the respect.

And speaking of love, the Mohigans may be setting up a date with destiny -- Feb. 14, of all days. That's when MHS hosts top-ranked Martinsburg.

"The date is definitely circled on the calendar," Law said. "They knocked us out of the state tournament last year. They have a lot of great players. Until then, though, we have to keep playing hard. That game isn't going to look good if we go into it with two or three losses."